Poetry, Prose, Photography

In the Spaces

I saw something upside down today and made a decision about interpretation and assigned a meaning…then I brought empathy to it (having just read a Seth Godin blog post on empathy), and realised if I stood somewhere else it would be right way up. So maybe I just need to choose to stand differently, elsewhere, in my life, and then act on that.

These are the thoughts I’m having as I slog away at some readings on analysis of data. I’m tired and I’ve persisted longer than I thought I would and I’m becoming distracted.

But why not give some attention to these spaces created by study tiredness, by the break I need to take to grab some shopping so I can feed the inmates at The Writers Wrest tonight? While my brain chews over what it’s read I can get some enjoyment out of the randomness that draws my eye and generates thoughts and wonder at whether it’s really random and question it all…basically I can indulge in a favourite pastime of wondering.

This enjoyment of the spaces, it’s been given a companion tune in the cafe I’m reading in…

“When you get caught between the moon and New York City…”

It reminds me of my long held desire to go to New York. Each time I prepare a blog post and I go to fill in the location, the default is New York, NY…that space for location in the wordpress template puts the space that is New York into my mind frequently.

And you know I really can’t remember what made me want to go there specifically. I wonder if it was a TV show or a book? Kind of like how my dream trip would be Canada and Alaska because I love Northern Exposure and Due South. And Anne of Green Gables has a lot to do with my travel aspirations…oh take me to Prince Edward Island. The West Wing and the books A Prayer for Owen Meany and the Cider House Rules make me want to see New Hampshire, Maine, New England. Oh and of course the Shipping News – I want to go to Newfoundland!

But New York has endured as a desired experience. I used to joke that I wanted to be mugged in Central Park, but, well, that’s a little distasteful really. I want to watch the Red Socks play down the road in Boston or the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Maybe it’s a baseball thing that made me want to go there?

So, in the spaces made by my tiredness today and in the reprieves from study to write this blog post and get the roast into the oven, I am contemplating being caught between the moon and New York City…

What do you do in that space? Do you find a way to get grounded or do you deliberately fly, free, agile, get the birds eye view, dip and weave in the spaces you pursue and find yourself in? Can love be that way when you go out on the wing together?

And here’s some photos from those spaces because I find myself constantly looking at things now as interesting to capture and share… the cafe table and my water glass – the dead, vibrant wood with a depth that says stick your finger in here, and the alive, dancing water; my university readings overpowered by the sun filtering through the window and teasing me ’cause maybe I should be out there feeling, not analysing; the coupling of the words welcome and warning; and a cloud, because we know I’m obsessed with looking at them.

Now I’m home and getting ready to fill the space in our bellies. Whoops, forgot to set the timer…roast pork is all about the crackling and to get the best I have to make sure the spaces collide with the necessary action hehe! And there’s the veggies to prepare…I wonder which spaces I’ll find my mind migrating too while my hands are occupied?